GOP reeling over backlash from leaked presentation

Mar. 5, 2010 12:00 AMWashington Post

WASHINGTON - National Republican leaders scrambled Thursday to control damage caused by an internal party document that caricatures President Barack Obama as the Joker and stokes fear of socialism to raise money in a critical election year.

The 72-page PowerPoint presentation reveals the blunt appeal to emotion that both parties use to motivate donors and prefer to keep private. But its release online and consequent cable chatter became an unwelcome distraction for Republicans because the strategy it outlined fit squarely with Democrats' portrait of the GOP as the "Party of No."

"You don't defend it," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Thursday in an interview on Fox News. "It was unfortunate. Those were images that were uploaded off the Internet. They've been out in the public domain for a while. A staffer was putting together a presentation for a small group of nine or 10 folks and thought they would intersperse their presentation with humorous shots. They're inappropriate."

Democrats distributed a fundraising letter of their own that referenced it. Brad Woodhouse of the Democratic National Committee, said: "Where was Michael Steele condemning these things in August during the 'tea party' protests? ... The only reason Michael Steele seems to be offended by it now is that he was caught using it."

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, a member of the Senate Republican leadership, said, "There is no place for this. Obviously, when you're fundraising ... you want to make direct and succinct points, but using these sorts of tactics is certainly not something that any of us ought to condone."